CIOInsider India Magazine

SpaceX has captured the world's attention with a series of historic milestones. The company gained attention for being the sole private company able to bring spacecraft back from low Earth orbit, and in 2012, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft became the first private spacecraft to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. In 2020, SpaceX became the first private company to carry humans to the space station. SpaceX celebrated a significant achievement in rocket technology recently with the successful launch of its Starship rocket and an innovative catch of its return booster using a mechanical arm with cutting-edge technology and SpaceX innovation. Conducted from Texas, the historic test flight highlighted the company's commitment to advancing reusable rocket technology and pushing the boundaries of space exploration.

The Launch
Starships are two-stage heavy-lift vessels consisting of a booster (super heavy) and an upper section (Starship spacecraft). It is taller than the Saturn V (111 meters) that carried Neil Armstrong to the moon. Incidentally, Qutab Minar is 72.5 meters tall, about the same length as the first-stage booster caught last week. Starships are designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond, and once fully operational, could revolutionize space travel.

What was the Mission?
The rocket system lifted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at 7:25 a.m. local time Sunday with the help of Super Heavy's 33 methane-burning Raptor engines. This was the fifth test launch for the rocket system. Three minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff, the booster detached from the Starship, reversed, and restarted the 13 Raptors back toward the Texas coast. Rather than splash into the ocean (as typical first-stage boosters do), SpaceX wanted the Super Heavy to land safely at the launch site.

The booster slowed from a speed of over 27,350 km/h, descended at an angle, and straightened out as it approached the gantry, the structure supporting the rocket before launch. The arm of the gantry, dubbed “Mechadilla,” literally caught the descending booster and shut down its engines. Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft continued to head into space, powered by six Raptors. After orbiting the Earth once, the spacecraft made a controlled on-target splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

Why was the Mission Substantial?
Most rocket systems are disposable and can only be used once. As a result, launching a rocket is quite expensive and time-consuming. Engineers have attempted to develop reusable spacecraft for decades, with limited success.

SpaceX is the latest space organization to push the limits of disposable rocket systems by building a completely and quickly reusable system. The Super Heavy catch is a milestone in that effort. In the future, the company hopes to be able to quickly stack a starship spacecraft on top of a landed booster, allowing the rocket to launch again almost instantly.

Elok Musk said his vision is that Mechadira will someday be able to turn the rocket around and return it to the launch pad within perhaps 30 minutes of touchdown. Notably, SpaceX has long mastered the landing process for the Falcon 9, a small workhorse rocket. However, the process is very different: instead of being caught in mid-air, the booster lands on a specially built platform using landing legs strapped to its sides.

Why is Starship Important for the Future of Space Travel and Exploration?
Starships are an important part of SpaceX's plan to send astronauts and cargo to celestial bodies. The company hopes to use the Starship HLS (Human Landing System) to send NASA astronauts back to the moon by 2026 as part of the Artemis III mission; CNN reports that SpaceX has signed government contracts worth up to about $4 billion to complete the mission. Ultimately, SpaceX hopes the Starship will send humans to Mars for the first time.

But before these ambitious plans can be implemented, the company must prove that the Starship is safe and reliable. Historically, this has been a difficult challenge for spaceflight programs.

For example, NASA's Space Shuttle program (which ended in 2011) consisted of partially reusable spacecraft, but the cost of maintaining and refurbishing the Space Shuttle proved to be far greater than the cost of launching disposable rockets.

Real-Time Decision Making
The decision to attempt to land the booster depended on a real-time evaluation by the flight director. The flight director had to make sure that both the booster and the launch tower were in good and stable condition. If conditions were not good, the booster would have fallen into the Gulf of Mexico. Fortunately, everything was deemed ready, and the mechanical arm performed its task flawlessly as the employees cheered.

Controlled Splashdown
After the booster was detached, the retro-looking stainless steel spacecraft continued its journey around the globe, heading for a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The flight time was just over an hour.
For nine years, SpaceX has retrieved the first stage booster of the small Falcon 9 rocket and delivered the satellite and its crew into orbit from Florida and California. Unlike the Falcon 9, which typically lands on a floating platform or concrete pad in the ocean miles from the launch site, the successful recovery of the Starship booster represents a new capability that will increase the speed and cost efficiency of future space missions.